» V8s: Tander on top in first Bathurst qualifying session

Garth Tander has posted the fastest lap time in the first qualifying session for Sunday’s V8 Supercars Bathurst 1000 endurance race at Mount Panorama.

The Holden Racing Team driver clocked a 2:07.664 lap-time on the 6.2-kilometre circuit to claim top spot, ahead of the all-important Top-10 Shootout that determines the make-up of the first five rows of the grid for Sunday’s 161-lap race.

Tander just managed to edge out strong challenges from Mark Winterbottom (Ford Performance Racing) and series leader Jamie Whincup (Triple 8 Holden), with the latter’s performance being all the more impressive after he damaged his car in an earlier practice accident.

A last-lap sprint from the ever-improving Dave Reynolds saw the Kelly Racing Holden driver claim a hugely impressive fourth-fastest, one spot ahead of Bathurst expert Greg Murphy.

The top-ten was completed by Craig Lowndes (Triple 8 Holden), James Courtney (Holden Racing Team), Lee Holdworth (Garry Rogers Holden), Shane van Gisbergen (Stone Brothers Ford) and Steve Owen (Paul Morris Holden).

It was a closely-fought session, with just one second covering the top seventeen runners, meaning that the likes of Will Davison (Ford Performance Racing), Alex Davison (Stone Brothers Ford), Rick Kelly (Kelly Racing Holden) and Jason Bright (Brad Jones Holden) were among the high-profile casualties who failed to make the cut for tomorrow’s one-lap shootout for pole. They will start from 11th, 13th, 16th and 18th respectively.

Series veteran Jason Bargwanna produced the session’s only major incident in what is continuing to be a rather mixed season for the Brad Jones Racing driver. He crashed his Holden on the approach to The Dipper in the session’s closing minutes, badly rearranging his car’s front axle. He will start from 21st position.

————————————————————————————————————-

V8 Supercars 2011 SuperCheap Auto Bathurst 1000 Final Grid:

	Driver / Co-Driver	Entry / Team	Time
1.	G. Tander / N. Percat	TOLL / Holden Racing Team	2:07.664
2.	M. Winterbottom / S. Richards	Orrcon Steel / Ford Performance Racing	+ 0.055
3.	J. Whincup / A. Thompson	Team Vodafone / Triple 8 Racing	+ 0.077
4.	D. Reynolds / T. Blanchard	Stratco Racing / Kelly Racing	+ 0.173
5.	G. Murphy / A. Simonsen	Pepsi Max Crew / Kelly Racing	+ 0.249
6.	C. Lowndes / M. Skaife	Team Vodafone / Triple 8 Racing	+ 0.338
7.	J. Courtney / C. McConville	TOLL / Holden Racing Team	+ 0.340
8.	L. Holdsworth / G. Ritter	Fujitsu Racing / Garry Rogers Motorsport	+ 0.430
9.	S. van Gisbergen / J. McIntyre	SP Tools / Stone Brothers Racing	+ 0.432
10.	S. Owen / P. Morris	VIP Petfoods / Paul Morris Motorsport	+ 0.477
11.	W. Davison / L. Youlden	Trading Post / Ford Performance Racing	+ 0.534
12.	P. Dumbrell / D. Canto	The Bottle-O Racing Team / Rod Nash	+ 0.580
13.	A. Davison / D. Brabham	Irwin / Stone Brothers Racing	+ 0.625
14.	M. Caruso / M. Marshall	Fujitsu Racing / Garry Rogers Motorsport	+ 0.782
15.	T. Slade / D. Gaunt	Lucky 7 Racing / Stone Brothers Racing	+ 0.808
16.	R. Kelly / O. Kelly	Jack Daniel’s / Kelly Racing	+ 0.861
17.	J. Moffat / M. Halliday	Jim Beam Racing / Dick Johnson Racing	+ 0.999
18.	J. Bright / A. Jones	Team BOC / Brad Jones Racing	+ 1.004
19.	T. Kelly / D. Russell	Jack Daniel’s / Kelly Racing	+ 1.063
20.	F. Coulthard / C. Baird	Bundaberg Racing / Walkinsaw Racing	+ 1.111
21.	J. Bargwanna / S. Price	Jana Living Racing / Brad Jones Racing	+ 1.452
22.	W. Luff / N. Pretty	Gulf Western Oil / Lucas Dumbrell	+ 1.486
23.	T. D’Alberto / D. Wood	Wilson Security / Tony D’Alberto Racing	+ 1.531
24.	S. Johnson / D. Besnard	Jim Beam Racing / Dick Johnson Racing	+ 1.644
25.	R. Ingall / J. Perkins	Supercheap Auto / Paul Morris	+ 1.669
26.	J. Webb / R. Lyons	Mother Energy Racing Team / Tekno	+ 1.738
27.	K. Reindler / D. Wall	Fair Dinkum Sheds / Brad Jones Racing	+ 1.738
28.	D. Fiore / M. Patrizi	Westrac / Triple F Racing	+ 2.355
29.	G. Denyer / C. Waters	Shannons / Kelly Racing	+ 4.073